Does Canton have a bar problem?

Ed Balint

Saturday

May 30, 2009 at 12:01 AMMay 30, 2009 at 2:54 PM

Crime and shootings are nothing new around neighborhood taverns, according to police and city officials, when compared to recent decades. Police say that when drunk people get upset and angry, the potential for violence always exists no matter what bar and what neighborhood.

Two shootings have occurred outside two city bars within the last two weeks. Four people were killed.

Does that mean the city has a bar problem?

Crime and shootings are nothing new around neighborhood taverns, according to police and city officials, when compared to recent decades. Police say that when drunk people get upset and angry, the potential for violence always exists no matter what bar and what neighborhood.

But for the most part, the crime associated with some bars is more violent than in the past, according to police.

“In the old days ... they might take a fight outside and get in a fight with their fists. ... Someone would get a bloody nose, and that’s all that would happen,” said Lt. James Cole, who heads the Police Department’s vice unit.

“Now they’re shooting at each other instead of punching each other,” Cole added. “You didn’t see that before. The patrons and clientele have changed tremendously. It’s much more violent than it was before.”

Canton’s problem with violence in or outside of bars is no different than any other urban city, Cole said.

Three people — Melissa L. Pinney, 31, of Canton, De’Andre Ruffin, 22, of Massillon, and Jonathon Pierce, 32, of Canton — were shot and killed about 2 a.m. Wednesday on Clarendon Avenue SW, next to the White Crown Cafe. The establishment had closed about 12:45 a.m., the manager said.

The suspect, Edward C. Martino III, 24, of Canton, was caught in New Mexico on Friday. He is charged with three counts of aggravated murder and one count each of attempted aggravated murder and being a felon with a weapon.

On May 21, a fight broke out inside The Spot at 2600 Eighth St. NE and continued in the parking lot, where one man pulled a gun and fired several shots. A bullet hit Monray L. Jones, 28, of Canton, who died at the hospital shortly after the shooting.

“I don’t want to blame bars for these things,” Police Chief Dean McKimm said. “These problems are most often personal problems that people have with one another. They’re personal issues, and the people who perpetrate these crimes are the ones who have to be held primarily responsible.”

“I remember coming on as a rookie (officer about 29 years ago) and answering typical bar fights that turned into a homicide,” McKimm said. “That was not even an unusual thing back then.”

RECENT SHOOTINGS

Neighbors and city officials describe the White Crown as a neighborhood bar and a lunch spot known for its fish. Outside of loud arguments in the parking lot and outside the bar, neighbors say the White Crown is not a problem.

“The White Crown has not been on our radar,” Law Director Joseph Martuccio said.

McKimm and Capt. Bruce Lawver say police do not consider the White Crown a trouble spot.

At the White Crown Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, Martino had been involved in a fight inside the bar, police have said. Police responded to a trouble call outside the bar, and people dispersed. The shooting occurred later, after the bar had closed.

“If you really look at the situation, it really wasn’t in relation to (the bar),” Lawver said. He said the shootings and earlier disturbance were independent of each another.

Police believe the victims had stopped at the White Crown to see if it was open and may have been returning to the car when the shootings occurred, Lawver said. “We have no indication (the victims had been in the bar),” he said.

Cole found no violations and no complaints in the department’s file for White Crown.

Don Garrini, owner of The Spot, said the homicide outside his bar is far from the norm.

Prior to the shooting, the bar had security personnel, said Garrini, owner since 2006. And customers are patted down when they enter the lounge to make sure they do not carry guns or drugs inside.

Garrini said he’s taken more precautions since the shooting, including posting an armed and trained security guard in the parking lot.

About “98 percent” of The Spot’s clientele act appropriately and go to the bar to relax and enjoy drinks, Garrini said. Many problems can be traced to the 21- to 25-year-old age group, Garrini said. “They really have a lack of respect for elders and everyone,” he said. In response, Garrini has raised the minimum age for admittance to 25.

“We’re sick and tired of it,” he said of the problems that northeast Canton bars are experiencing. “It’s not the establishments that are creating these problems; it’s the young reckless, disrespectful people that have no regard for human life that create this problem.”

Firearms were not inside The Spot the night of the shooting, Garrini said. “There’s no way that myself or any other bar owner can control what is in a vehicle in their parking lot,” he said.

Garrini said he has called police on occasion, including to report that someone had a weapon in the parking lot. He said he did so “to protect the people at The Spot.”

LOCAL HISTORY

Since at least the 1980s, the city and law enforcement have battled bars. Some were declared public nuisances in the 1980s and ’90s and shut down. Reasons included drug activity, liquor violations, underage drinking and violence. Three bars on Belden Avenue were shut down, Cole recalled.

“There was a fatality on the outside of the Breilan Center (on Belden Avenue NE),” Cole said, estimating it was about 20 years ago. “... We pulled up right as the (man) was shot. He actually crawled inside the Breilan Center and died inside the bar.”

In 1991, voters on a liquor option in a precinct in Ward 2 cast ballots to close the Play Pen Lounge by a margin of 65-25. Neighboring business owners had said prostitutes hung out near the bar. Bar owners had contended the tavern was not the cause of the problems.

Violence can be random and difficult to prevent, McKimm said. But problems also depend on “what kind of atmosphere (bar operators) allow to occur and what kind of rules they dictate,” he said.

At some neighborhood bars, customers have gone from “older, mature patrons” who worked at local factories to younger customers. But “it’s still (the) responsibility (of the business) to know what’s going on right outside,” Cole said.

WHAT CAN THE CITY DO?

City officials say they are aggressive against nuisance bars. Nearly three years ago, a resident complained repeatedly about the Pastime Inn at 606 Ninth St. SW. The city asked a state agency to pull the liquor permit. The bar closed last year. Neighbors had complained about drug activity, rowdiness and public urination. Three people were shot in February 2008.

More recently, the city has filed an objection with the Ohio Division of Liquor Control to the renewal and transfer of a liquor permit at the Hob Nob Tavern at 1604 Harrisburg Road NE. Division of Liquor Control hearings are in June. A neighbor has complained about police calls to the Hob Nob, including reports of gunshots outside and a robbery. Noise, littering, vulgarity and parking issues are other concerns. The bar manager says he’s taken safety measures to reduce the problems.

Last year, police called the 30/30 Club on 12th Street NE a nuisance. They responded to calls there nearly 100 times in a three-year period. The bar has been closed. Problems included a fight at the bar during which guns were drawn.

In 2006, Councilman Thomas West, D-2, proposed a policy or program that would attempt to keep troublemakers and those with criminal convictions out of bars. Kristen Bates Aylward, an assistant city law director, and West plan to discuss the idea with Martuccio, the law director, next week.

Under the concept, the city would not decide who goes in and out of bars, Bates Aylward said. That would be up to bar owners and operators. The city is considering maintaining a database and “registry” listing people with convictions. Bars and liquor establishments could access the information, Bates Aylward said, possibly through the city’s Web site.

Details have to be worked out, including what types of crimes would land somebody on the registry and how long individuals would be on the list. The city would provide the information, not the bars.

“This would be a resource for them so they could keep the troublemakers out of their particular liquor establishments,” Bates Aylward said.

WHITE CROWN CAFE

2528 Ninth St. SW

2009 police calls: 8

2008 police calls: 23

THE SPOT

2600 Eighth St. NE

2009 police calls: 11

2008 police calls: 17

HOB NOB TAVERN

1604 Harrisburg Road NE

2009 police calls: 45

2008 police calls: 35

PASTIME INN

606 Ninth St. SW

Closed in 2008 after Ohio Division of Liquor Control had denied renewal of its liquor permit at the request of the city and Canton had filed a public nuisance complaint against the establishment.

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